After the first of two deice trucks departed; non standard terminology between the Flight Crew of a B737-400 and their deicing crew led to an attempted engine start while the second truck was still spraying the aft end of the jet. A timely call from the crew of that truck resolved the issue
Synopsis
After the first of two deice trucks departed; non standard terminology between the Flight Crew of a B737-400 and their deicing crew led to an attempted engine start while the second truck was still spraying the aft end of the jet. A timely call from the crew of that truck resolved the issue
Narrative
We needed to deice the aircraft so we pushed from the gate and configured per the de-ice checklist. Two trucks were utilized to deice us. While monitoring the company frequency one truck called the truck and said they were through and for the other tuck to complete the deice. About a minute latter a truck appeared in front of the nose and finished spraying the radome - we received a call 'clear to go' and the truck drove off. So we completed the deice card and started the right engine. Then we received a call from the other deice truck that they were still deicing the tail. We promptly shut the engine down. After the truck finished we received the final information and completed the procedures as per the card. Lessons Learned: 1. There was some non standard verbiage with the trucks and flight crew as well as good precise communication. We got sucked in when we heard ' Cleared to go' 2. I had thought it odd after receiving the 'Cleared to go' that we did not receive the fluid information as well as start time. Since there was no precipitation falling I assumed they were going to call back with the information. This turned out to be the key - do not complete the card until you have received this information. There are bugs we all have to workout as we shift our focus to cold weather and this highlights the importance of good communication and proper and proper terminology.
Second reporter narrative
I thought this was non-standard terminology and was waiting to copy the post deicing numbers and hear that deicing was complete and we were cleared to start engines. I radioed back 'Roger deice complete' and heard nothing. This is where I should have sought confirmation that we were in fact through deicing by asking for a standard read back.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.